Local News

City getting ready for growth

Annexations, land purchases, water agreements all part of process

The city of Fort Morgan is looking to be ready for future growth, and having more property available within the city for businesses is one of the identified needs.

To that end, local real estate agent Don Jones spoke at a public hearing May 6 in favor of a possible annexation of about 103 acres on the southeast part of the city.

"This is a monumental step forward, annexing this property to the city of Fort Morgan," said Jones, who represents the property owner of the land that could get annexed. "I know you've been in discussions concerning economic development. That's a critical part of having an area to show people and businesses that are thinking about coming here and bringing their jobs with them, to show that the city of Fort Morgan wants them here."

He said the potential annexation would provide a place already within the city that real estate agents could show clients as a possible location for establishing their business in the city.

"When businesses come in here now, this is a natural place for economic development, for commercial businesses to come in and look at property" Jones said. "Businesses come where they feel like they're welcome. ... When we have something to show them inside the city limits, that demonstrates to them clearly that the city and this area is interested in them coming."

The land in question is located between Railroad and Platte avenues and between Old Beef Plant Road to the east and the Fort Mort Morgan Police Department and Morgan County Department of Human Services to the west, according to Public Works Director/Engineer Brad Curtis.

That would offer quite a large area for potential economic development, which is something the council has been looking toward encouraging.

"I think it will have very beneficial effects in a short term," Jones said of the potential annexation.

No one spoke against the annexation at the hearing.

After closing the hearing, the council approved on first reading the ordinance that would annex the Fort Morgan Farms LLC II property into the city.

The ordinance needs one more vote to become final.

Land purchase

The city also will have land it owns available now, as the council approved purchasing 3.09 acres of land from the Community Resources & Housing Development Corp.

The nonprofit CRHDC purchased land east of the Morgan County Department of Human Services building to build a 50-unit housing development for agriculture-related workers and their families between Beaver and Railroad avenues.

As part of that plan, the city also signed a contract to purchase a small chunk of that land for $30,900 from CRHDC if asked.

But CRHDC also committed to working with the city on extending Linda Street in that area "to provide for safety and preservation of already present rights of way for necessary utilities," according to the contract between the parties.

City Manager Jeff Wells said that CRHDC intended to get going on the Linda Street improvements project this summer, although the group's funding for building the housing development was still pending.

Water agreement

The council also took action to shift responsibility and benefits of providing water service to the city from Morgan County Quality Water District

As part of it, the council approved paying the district for the loss of revenue from the newly annexed land for CRHDC's proposed housing development and the chunk the city agreed to purchase from the nonprofit.

While the property owner usually pays this fee, the special circumstances of the agreement between the city and CRHDC led to the city paying it, Assistant City Attorney Jason Meyers said.

The city has an intergovernmental agreement with Morgan County Quality Water District that makes it easier for the switch from the district to the city to happen after annexations, Wells said.

"Obviously, they receive tax funding from those properties and various other revenue sources, and so when we exempt it out of their district, they lose those revenue sources," he said. "We're very fortunate to have a good relationship with Quality Water where we've already sat down and said, 'This is how we will do things.'"

Under that agreement, the city has to pay $100 per acre annexed into the city from MCQWD.

NEW YORK (AP) — Viewers said farewell to Amy Poehler and the gang of Pawnee, Indiana, bureaucrats on NBC's "Parks and Recreation," in a finale that made more of a dent online than on television. Full Story